Shanghai's Elite

6. Hurricane Lennox

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IN THE MIDST OF THE ELECTRIC CITY and glittering towers of Shanghai, Natasha Kauffman's A.L.C dress was covered in vomit. The perpetrator of such a horrendous crime: Lennox Richmond, the intoxicated, and potentially medicated, heiress, stumbling all over the side-walk with Gucci lipstick smudged.

"Oh god, Lennox! Bloody hell." Dakota stepped away from the puddle of puke in revulsion, supporting the uncoordinated girl, "Are you okay?"

Natasha squinted, resisting the urge to expel the slimy sashimi she forced down her throat to impress them. Even though she was stuck in that ludicrous situation, Natasha was blown away by Dakota's sympathy. Maybe the girl was a little too honest at times, but she genuinely cared about her friends. The minute Lennox felt sick, the blunt fiery stunner was gone. And that was someone Natasha would like to be friends with, regardless of what her parents heard about the Winslow's.

"Sorry about your dress, Natasha." Lennox grumbled, wiping the last bit of saliva off her luscious lips, "Can we please just go home?"

"Yeah, if my driver would just answer his fucking phone." Dakota stomped the heel of her lace-ups and then started waving her hands at the incoming traffic, "Taxi! Taxi!" It was useless. The streets were packed, but there was not a cab in sight.

"Let's just think, we can't freak out." Natasha encouraged them and then glanced down at her skin-tight dress, the delicate lace detailing stained with... chewed up white wine truffle risotto? Oh brother, the dirty blonde exhaled tension. This was so not how she imagined her first night out in Shanghai turning out like. But on the plus size, she didn't have to pay for the ridiculously expensive dinner that would've cost half her monthly allowance.

"Oh, I have an idea! Let's go to Leo's pad, he lives just around the corner." Dakota piped up, leading the girls to a set of luxurious apartment buildings further down the street.

When they got stranded, Dakota thought of Leo Najjar's pad for a reason: he practically lived alone. Shanghai's Huangpu river separated two districts, Pudong and Puxi. The Najjar's mansion was actually located in Puxi, but Leo's parents decided to buy an apartment in the heart of the city for them to stay at when they had important events or business meetings in Pudong. And also for Leo and his older sister to live in so they could attend the best and priciest international school in all of China: Shanghai International Academy Pudong.

Dakota explained all this to Natasha as they hauled a lumbering Lennox over to the grand doors of the high-rise property. Walking past the splashing fountains, they reached a glass elevator, where an armed security guard, dressed head to toe in black, blocked their passage.

"We're here for Leo Najjar." Dakota casually gave the man a flirty wink. Since Leo's parents lived across town, his pad was SIAP's unofficial party house. So the guard already knew to let any well-dressed, rich-looking kid up. He responded with a simple nod and swiped his keycard, not even questioning why there was a slurring sixteen year old in their arms.

Travelling all the way to the twenty-first floor, the elevator ride was seemingly long and awkward. Lennox's head was throbbing, Natasha's dress reeked of the stench of vomit, and Dakota was occupied thinking about her current-maybe-cheating-potential-ex boyfriend.

The elevator bell rung, and the girls were face to face with Leo's front door. Dakota knocked on the fiberglass, peeping into the sidelights. Natasha was admiring the fancy art around her when a gorgeous blond answered the door. Their eyes met and time suspended for a moment. Nataha's chest tightened as she stared at the Swedish boy. His eyes are so... blue.